FaceTime Over Cellular Now Available for All AT&T iPhone, iPad Customers?

After relaxing its iron grip with FaceTime over cellular for LTE-equipped iOS devices, AT&T now appears to be opening the floodgates to all iOS 6-compatible customers, even with unlimited data plans.

MacRumors is reporting that AT&T appears to be quietly allowing all iOS 6 devices on its network to activate FaceTime over cellular, which the carrier initially chose to limit strictly to customers using its new Mobile Share data plans.

That position changed a bit earlier this month, when AT&T announced that it would allow customers with an LTE device on any tiered data plan to use the feature, which is baked right into iOS 6 but requires carrier approval to use.

Apple has limited the feature to iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 as well as third and fourth-gen iPad users with a cellular-capable tablet, and that hasn't changed -- but a number of MacRumors forum members with compatible devices that had been shut out by AT&T are reporting success at now activating the feature, just in time for the holiday weekend.

That also includes iPhone users still on their original grandfathered unlimited data plans, although AT&T has been diligent about capping data usage on those discontinued offerings, so it's not exactly going to be a data buffet over FaceTime.

While AT&T has yet to confirm or deny the change of heart, some users are having no such luck with turning on FaceTime over cellular -- an issue that usually clears up after powering the device off and turning it back on again.